Forget What You Know About Dividend Investing (This Changes Everything)

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These days, I’m seeing something I’ve frankly never seen before in the markets: a lot of people questioning so-called investment “truths” they thought were frankly unmovable.

Most people’s natural instinct is to withdraw in times like these, but that would be a mistake in this case, especially for closed-end fund (CEF) investors, as it may result in funds that seem to always trade at a discount suddenly seeing those “eternal” sales come to a swift end.

I know that’s quite a bit to unpack, so let’s start with the skepticism that seems to be rolling through the markets today, starting with the S&P 500’s new—and long-awaited—all-time high.… Read more

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If you always wanted a free lunch but thought they don’t exist, well, they kind of do, in the form of the Fidelity group of ZERO index funds, like the Fidelity ZERO Total Market Index Fund (FZROX).

After all, its 0% fees mean it should easily beat a closed-end fund (CEF) with a high expense ratio, right? Well, not so fast.

0% Fees Do Not Equal Outperformance

FZROX—in purple above—may levy no management fee, but it’s underperformed many equity CEFs over a long period. Since inception, it’s trailed the Adams Diversified Equity Fund (ADX), in blue, and the General American Investors Co.Read more

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Look, I’ll be honest: I’m bullish on our favorite income investments, high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs), as we head toward 2024.

Fact is, these overlooked income stalwarts are still on sale after the 2022 pullback, with the ticker we’ll talk about below going for an absurd 17.2% below its true value.

We can thank CEF investors’ conservative nature for that—they still don’t trust this year’s rebound. So our chance to grab big payouts at a discount is still available. Right now, the portfolio of my CEF Insider service is generating a rich 9.9% average yield.

But that said, we always need to keep an eye on factors that could go sideways in the future, so we can shift gears—and protect our capital and income streams—at a moment’s notice.… Read more

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What happened to the stock-market rally? Simple: it’s been undermined by two overdone fears: of a housing-market correction and worries around a government shutdown.

But well reported-on events like these rarely have the big impact most people think they do. In fact, this pullback in stocks is a buying opportunity, particularly in high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs).

Don’t Buy the Gloom Narrative Around Stocks

Before we get to potential strategies and buys, I do have to say one thing: don’t let anyone tell you stocks are doomed. This year has too much positive sentiment, and the S&P 500 still hasn’t reached all-time-highs, so this isn’t a pause in a bull market.… Read more

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We need to talk about “financial independence” for a second. It’s one of those catch-all terms you see a lot in financial-industry marketing, for good reason: it means completely different things to different people.

Maybe your idea of financial independence is having a bit of extra income on the side, to go with a regular job you love. Or maybe you want to work only on the projects you like, without the unreasonable boss and 9-to-5 grind. Heck, maybe you want to clock out completely.

Me? I’m a big fan of picking projects I want to do—and I’ve accomplished that in my forties, thanks to the 8%+ yielding investments I want to take you on a guided tour of today: closed-end funds (CEFs).… Read more

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On the surface, investing through an index fund sounds great. It’s simple, cheap and, as you’ve likely heard over and over, few active managers beat their benchmarks anyway.

But we closed-end fund (CEF) investors know better. Truth is, there are lots of CEFs out there that beat their benchmarks while throwing off healthy dividends north of 8%.

And when you step beyond the world of stocks, into areas like corporate bonds, REITs and municipal bonds, benchmark-beaters are the norm with CEFs. That’s because those markets, which are much smaller than the stock market, give a savvy manager lots of advantages—like a well-stacked contact book—that a “robotic” index fund just can’t match.… Read more

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We’ve got some superb dividends sitting in front of us in CEFs right now—as I write this, these funds yield an incredible 7.9%, on average!

That’s way more than Treasuries (especially after their yields were pummeled last week). And far more than the 1.3% dribbled out by the typical S&P 500 stock.

Best of all, many CEFs hold the same stocks you likely hold now—including household names like Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT). So you likely won’t have to ditch your current holdings to get into these funds.

Those high dividends, as you can likely imagine, get a lot of attention from investors—so much so that some may be tempted to try a technique known as “dividend capture” with CEFs.… Read more

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Let’s use this November rally to “front-run” even bigger gains in 2023. Our target buys: closed-end funds (CEFs) yielding 10%+ and trading at double-digit discounts.

We’re keen to move now because, with a 20%+ loss this year, stocks (and the CEFs that hold them) are way oversold. And with the market’s tendency to rise into year-end (the much-loved Santa Claus rally), now is a great time to buy.

One smart option here is a CEF called the General American Investors Company (GAM), payer of a 9.8% dividend. GAM is one of the most reliable CEFs there is, with roots stretching back to 1927.… Read more

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s been a flurry of doom-and-gloom articles making the rounds that all preach the same thing: anyone looking to retire now faces a bleak time of it indeed.

To that I say: nonsense! Below I’ll show you three closed-end funds (CEFs) whose yields are so high right now (up to 11.2%) that buying them and living off their rich payouts has rarely been this attractive.

We’ll talk more about these three funds, and the many benefits CEFs offer retirees, shortly. First, let’s talk about the “retirement alarmism” we’re seeing in the media today. Because these articles (all driven by the fact that fearsome headlines get clicks) suggest that a mix of high inflation and still-high stock valuations will result in retirees facing much lower “safe withdrawal rates,” or SWRs.… Read more

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There’s a glaring disconnect out there between the health of the economy (still strong) and the mood of investors (terrible). It’s opened a window for us to grab some solid closed-end funds (CEFs) throwing off yields of 8%+.

This is especially true if you’re investing for the long term, which, if you are investing for income like this, you should be.

We’re going to talk about three such high-income plays today (one of which offers an 11.5% payout that’s growing) and dive just a little deeper into why this opening exists for us.

Fast Growth + Worried Investors = Best Time to Buy CEFs

If you’re a bit nervous about investing right now, I get it.… Read more

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